That Ultear was going to betray us sooner or later... That would mean Meredy's also in on it as well! No... That can't be true... surely not..." Zancrow thought to himself as he stumbled down the forest path. He never trusted that damned broad. What did Meredy see in her? He shook the thoughts out of his head. All he needed to do is concentrate on regrouping with the others. 'Damned Fairy...' Zancrow cringed in pain as he gripped the wound he had taken against the Fire Dragon Slayer. 'I need to find the others. We need to regroup. Meredy... I should find her first. Yeah. She'll need my help most. No doubt that bitch Ultear left her to fend for herself..."
Zancrow looked forward breathed in the different scents around him. He located his guilds ship to the west. He could also smell the scent of Kaine, Bluenote, and Rustyrose scattered all throughout island mixed with the scent of their blood, telling Zancrow that they have been defeated. The scent of Caprico and Azuma had disappeared altogether. From a distance behind him, he could slightly smell Ultear, but she was wet... perhaps she was securing her self a boat to escape so she wouldn't have to face failure?
Zancrow sniffed again, and caught three unique scents. One was a dark energy that could only belong to the Black Mage, another was one of blood and salt water mixed, probably a Fairy, and one was of Meredy. Zancrow smiled, well prepared to help her and assist her when he realized something. Meredy was heading towards Ultear. Zancrow clenched his teeth in absolute rage. She and probably the Fairy, were going to join Ultear and escape with Zeref!
Enraged, Zancrow ran to intercept them. As he drew closer, it had begun to rain. He cutting them off in the middle of the path. "MEREDY!" He called out with a large slasher smile across his face. The rain drops his his skin, but did little to cool of his anger.
The petite pink haired wizard stared at Zancrow, in complete shock of his sudden appearance. "Z-zancrow?" She exclaimed. Over her shoulder was an unconscious black haired mage, presumably Zeref, and behind her was a woman with blue hair in a torn black dress.
'They are probably trying to catch me off guard.' Zancrow growled to himself, losing his grin. He clenched his fists and yelled out to her, "Just where were you planning on taking Zeref?"
"Th-that's-" She tried to explain.
"So, you were planning on betraying us with Ultear after all, huh!" He accused, "WELL?"
Meredy stared at him with fearful eyes and gave a weak, meaningless, "N-no..."
'Liar!' Zancrow bit his tongue and breathed in through his mouth. In a rage he blasted her and the other two with a weak God's Bellow yelling, "YOU ARE NO LONGER A PART OF GRIMORE HEART!"
The blast knocked the battle weary mages back a great deal. Zancrow let out a chilling laugh "Uhihihihihihihi! ZEREF BELONGS TO US!"
'I will not allow you to hurt me Meredy!' he yelled in the back of his mind. 'You. The one person whom I fully trusted, tried to hurt me!'
Zancrow let out another psychotic laugh as he picked up Zeref. 'I'll hurt you back 20 fold!'
"Wait!" Meredy called out to him in pain as she withered on the ground. "Zeref is Ultear's future! ... My future..."
Zancrow stared at her with a grin, "Feh, so naive. How long are you going to keep spouting that crap?"
'I won't let you make me feel guilty! This is your fault!' His mind barked at her. 'I SHOULD have killed you when I had the chance!'
"Ultear promised!" Meredy cried, tears now swelling up in her eyes, "If I can make it to the Great World of Magic, my town can go back to the way it used to be!"
'Still believe in that witch! Fine! Let's see how you view her in the light of truth!' Zancrow resolved.
He flashed her a trade marked grin and revealed, "But the one who destroyed your town WAS Ultear!"
Meredy froze with a look of disbelief. Tears now completely fell from her face. "That is... a lie..."
Zancrow felt a twinge of guilt, but he refused to stop here. She had caused him so much pain with her sudden betrayal, now he will give it back. To rub salt in her psychological wounds, Zancrow let out a loud bellow of victory. Even as Zeref slept peacefully, even as the Fairy stared at him with a deep hatred, even as Meredy cried such painful tears, he laughed.
As Zancrow laughed, he felt sublime. He felt all of his anger leave him, his sadness followed as well. He saw a vision of his sanity slowly fading. 'Who needs it? All I want is for this high of power and dominance to last forever.'
"Acnologia..." a small voice whispered, snapping Zancrow back to reality. Zancrow looked at the raven haired mage he held under his arm. Slowly, Zeref's head turned to him till he looked straight into his eyes,
Zeref's eyes were cold. Zancrow felt a chill go down his spine and felt himself break into a cold began to shake slightly, when suddenly, Zeref's eyes flashed. "E-eh?"
A large black wave suddenly burst from Zeref and hit Zancrow directly. He felt his insides be ripped apart, and his heart completely stop. He felt his body turn cold and his brain beginning to shut down.
Zeref shook free from Zancrow's grasp, knocking him down in the process.
As Zancrow fell, he saw Meredy in the corner of his eye. Zancrow was suddenly overwhelmed with an extreme feeling of guilt for what he had done. He had hurt the one person dear to him. The one person he could talk to. He attacked his only string of sanity.
Zancrow layed on the ground, staring up at the raining sky, his vision slowly fading. "Sorry." He heard a sad voice, probably Zeref's, say, "I didn't even know your name..."
'Zancrow...' He tried to tell him, but was unable to draw his voice. His breath was faint.
"One more dark moment to weigh on my conscious," Zeref said with true sorrow.
'At least you won't die with it gripping your heart' Zancrow's inner thought murmured.
He felt Zeref's wet hands touch his face as he slowly slid them down, closing his eyes forever.
'I had deserved this, but...' Zancrow thought as he drew his last breath.
Everlasting whiteness drew over him.
'I don't want to die.'
Hey guys, Loveless here. This is my third Grimore Heart One shot, but unlike my last two, this one is a much more sad story. I was inspired by this idea when I reread the S-Class arc. It's safe to say Zanrow is not entirely sane, but I do not think it's accurate to say he's insane either. I like to believe that before he met Meredy, he was already walking on the tight rope of losing his sanity, and that Meredy was able to help balance him. I belief that his defeat at the hands of Natsu had caused his head to become clouded and sent him over the deep end. In all, this is simply just my opinion and how I like to view it. I hope you enjoyed this story.
Leave your thoughts in the form of a review and PM me with any One-Shot idea's you would like to see, and maybe I'll make it happen.
